Hours of Summer Showers
by ScribeOfRhapsody
Summary: Some friendships are worth poisoning yourself over. (Set post Hours Between and pre Hours of Haunting.)


**Well, I just thought I was done with this series. lol Then ScribeOfRemedy won one of my discord group challenges and requested this oneshot.**

* * *

This summer had been a blazing one. Day after day of those who had to wear suits to work rushing from one air-conditioned sanctuary to another – Ignis included. Thus, waking up to an overcast sky and a slight decline in the temperature had been a pleasant surprise. He hadn't checked the forecast lately with how consistent it had been and how utterly mad the week was, so stepping outside into sunlight that didn't make him instantly sweat had him sighing appreciatively.

Getting Noct out of bed was less difficult too.

"I'm gonna see if Prompto wants to do something after school if it stays this way."

"Very well, just remember all that you have to do in the following days."

The excitement about Noct's upcoming graduation had all but fizzled and died for everyone involved by this point – except Regis, nothing was killing his joy. Noct was more than fed up with everything that was being pushed at him, and trying to manage security for the event was an ever-living nightmare. Sending Noct to school was one matter, but he and the King both being present for the ceremony meant that every detail had to be examined and verified by at least three different people.

"Yeah, I'm not. Could just use a break, you know?"

Ignis did know. He knew very well. His job had never been so stressful.

…Except the kidnapping incident. He certainly hoped nothing would ever top that.

And so Ignis agreed. He was more than happy to let Noct and Prompto have some time before he took Noct back to his apartment. He would just have to remember to take some documents with him to go over while he was waiting.

His itinerary was on a loop in his head the entire drive to school.

That was a mistake. He should have known better than to push a cloudy day to the back of his mind. It had just been weeks since he'd had to worry about it.

But in the back of his mind it was as he dropped Noct off.

"Later, Specs! I'll text you once Prompto and I figure out what the plan is."

"Much obliged," Ignis returned. And it was. Noct used to fight tooth and nail about keeping him updated on his movements, but he hadn't complained once about it since the Tummelt Affair. Keeping Ignis in the loop about his plans seemed to be second nature at this point.

Ignis dropped his head back against the headrest, relaxing as he waited for the traffic to stream along. It appeared he was going to be slightly more delayed than he'd predicted, but that was no matter. He'd still have plenty of time to get to the Citadel without being late.

He clicked on the news, making sure the volume was low enough not to distract him from the various cars that were in very close proximity to his at the moment.

Idle reports. Nothing remarkable had happened lately apart from Noct's approaching graduation. He clicked the button again, shutting off the noise.

The cars ahead were finally beginning to move at a nicer pace now.

And then there was a tap on his windshield. Ignis blinked at the noise, searching for its source.

His blood ran cold, fingers tightening on the wheel as he spotted the single drop of water on the glass.

Oh. No… It was the middle of summer still. It was still supposed to be scorching each day. Why was there–

Another drop hit the window.

Bloody hell.

Ignis sucked in a breath, stabbing the radio button again with his finger and scrambling to turn it up over a music station. He forced the hand still on the wheel to start tapping out the rhythm he and Noct had discovered helped a small amount when he started panicking.

This was not safe.

He waited as long as he could, then flicked his blinker on and tore off the road to park in the grass under a bridge.

Maybe the bridge would help. Maybe it would block the rain enough…

He turned the music up louder, dropping his head to rest on the steering wheel as his fingers tapped away.

* * *

Noctis' leg bobbed up and down as he stared out the window, not catching a word of what his teacher was saying. They'd only just started class when it began raining, and Noctis really wanted to check on Ignis.

He was seriously considering taking the trouble he'd get in for texting in class. But no… his dad would be really disappointed, and Noctis wouldn't be able to tell anyone why it was important. He had managed to shoot a quick message with his and Prompto's plans to Ignis before class, but he was pretty sure he hadn't gotten a reply, because he hadn't felt a buzz.

Ignis always texted him back.

Granted, there were several reasons someone might not have texted him back right then – they were in the middle of driving, they were thinking about their reply – but this was Ignis. He was nothing if not prompt and consistent.

Either Noctis had missed feeling the buzz, or something was wrong.

Noctis really hoped it was the first option. He was almost sure it was the second.

Ignis couldn't have made it all the way to the Citadel before the rain started.

Okay. That was it. He needed out of here. And he could not wait for class and school to be over. But this was the teacher that didn't give a crap that he was royalty, and he doubted she'd buy him suddenly coming down sick when he looked fine.

Noctis zeroed on the kid two seats up and one seat to the left of him. Noctis was allergic to one thing on this planet, and that one thing happened to be what he'd seen that kid had on him all the time.

Noctis quickly and quietly ripped part of a piece of paper from his book, scribbling down his request before folding it up and launching it at the kid's desk while the teacher was facing the board.

_I will give you $20 tomorrow if you give me a peppermint right now. _

…Maybe he should have made that less extreme.

The kid blinked at him, looked at the note, and then looked back at Noctis again with the most confused expression on his face that Noctis had seen on any human being.

Noctis didn't blame him. He wasn't sure they'd ever even had a direct conversation before.

The kid looked at the teacher briefly before tossing the peppermint to him.

Score.

That had gotten some looks from other students, but it was just a mint. Nothing too serious.

…Yet.

Noctis slipped the mint out of the package and into his mouth.

This was going to be so much fun…

It didn't take long for the itching to start. He spat the rest of the mint out then.

…He was going to regret this so much if Ignis was fine.

Pretty soon he was twitching in his seat, rubbing at the rashes forming on his arms. Gah, his nose was getting stuffy and runny too. _And_ his throat felt tight.

"Ma'am," he said once he was sure his symptoms were visible. He didn't have to fake the cough that followed.

The teacher turned around, eyes going wide as they settled on him. "Your Highness!"

"I, uh, don't feel so great…" He coughed again, rubbing at his skin. "Can I go to the nurse?"

He barely waited for her answer before flying out the door, yanking his phone from his pocket.

No message, like he'd expected.

He immediately jabbed his thumb onto the speed dial number for Ignis as he pushed through the school doors to the outside.

Well, at least the rain felt good to him. Little bit of relief to his itchy skin.

No answer.

Noctis swore.

Plan B.

* * *

Ignis was so deep into his breathing and tactile calming methods that he full on _jumped _when the passenger door of the car was yanked open.

"Ignis!"

Ignis remained disoriented for a moment, and he felt no less confused when his vision cleared and settled on a very wet and… red Noct before him.

"Noct, what the devil?" Ignis yelled over the music.

Noct slumped a bit, looking relieved before yelling back. "Are you okay?"

Ignis nodded weakly. "I… haven't fully lost myself in the depths of my mind yet."

"Right." Noct gestured to the passenger seat. "Scoot. I'm driving you home."

"I'd prefer your apartment," Ignis admitted.

"That works too."

Ignis zoned out on most of the ride back to Noct's apartment. He kept thinking he should be worried about something. Or upset. But he couldn't think of what.

He just needed to not fall apart… That was it for now, he could worry about the rest later.

So he closed his eyes and tried to listen to the music playing. He hummed softly, placing his hands over his ears to block out the sound of the rain beyond the music.

Steady breaths.

"Specs?" Noct set a gentle hand on his back. "We're here. Come on, let's go inside."

Ignis followed his instructions, keeping his eyes closed as much as he could as Noct guided him through the parking lot and eventually into his apartment.

Ignis sank into the couch, swallowing as he looked out the window.

Oh, Six…

Noct yanked the curtain closed. And then all the others, coughing as he did so.

"Okay, okay, what else…" he muttered, turning in a full circle before he suddenly ran off into the other room.

Music started playing a few moments later, and then Noct came sprinting back into the room with a stack of papers that he dumped onto the coffee table and then began sifting through

"Okay, what have we tried… Uhhh, pressure points, reading– reading! Reading out loud!"

This time he stepped onto the couch next to Ignis and climbed over it to avoid going around.

Ignis felt laughter bubbling up within him, despite being on the verge of hysteria. It was oddly amusing to see Noct running around like a headless chocobo.

"Here, try this!"

A book was shoved in his hands.

The words were barely more than illegible lines of ink for a few moments, but after he focused on them a bit longer, they began to clear.

And so he read aloud, Noct taking the spot on the couch beside him.

He didn't know how long it was, but between that, the curtains being closed, and Noct's terrible taste in music, he slowly began to feel more and more like himself.

Thank goodness. No full attack this time.

Ignis stopped reading once he reached the end of that page, slowly flipping the pages until the book closed.

"You doing okay?" Noct asked quietly.

Ignis nodded. "Yes. Much better, thank you." Much steadier. And aware of certain… things.

"Good heavens, Noct!" Ignis sat up straighter. "Did you eat peppermint?"

He looked bloody awful – eyes red and puffy, patches of rashes dotting his arms…

"Uh. Yeah." He sniffed. "Kind of intentionally. To get out of class."

"_Noct._"

Noct waved him off. "It's cool, Iggy. We both know my allergy isn't that bad."

Ignis was equal parts touched and horrified. And he had questions. "How… how did you even find me?"

Noct grinned, looking far too pleased with himself. "I called the Citadel and bullcrapped my way through a story to get them to track your phone for me."

"…Dare I ask what story?"

"I told them you were giving one of my friends at school a ride to school too and that he got carsick, so you pulled over for a minute and dropped your phone while we were there."

Well. Ignis supposed it wasn't the worst story he could have come up with.

His phone… Blast, his lack of presence at the Citadel was definitely going to be noticed by now.

He started to push off the couch. "I need to call–"

"No, you don't," Noct said simply. "I already took care of it."

Ignis' mind reeled again. How long had he been zoned out? "What reason did you give for my absence?"

Noct gestured to himself. "I had an allergic reaction at school. I called you, you came and got me, you took me home, and now you're taking care of me."

Ignis taking care of him. Oh, how times changed. That had once always been the case.

Ignis' shoulders sagged. "There is so much to do today, I can't remain here. I need to–"

"Ignis, come on." Noct crossed his arms. "You never take sick days. Ever. Just make this one. Besides, I already told Gladio you weren't gonna be there today."

But he _did _take sick days. The last time this had happened, he'd feigned being sick for the first time in his life. And he'd felt guilty about it all day. Just as he was going to now.

But it was better than the first time he'd discovered the dangers of rain. The first time he'd had an attack as soon as he'd woken up. He hadn't even had the chance to think about calling in, he'd just woken up to a Glaive in his room – a Glaive that had mistakenly thought he was sick then too and reported as much on his behalf.

He didn't want to make a bloody habit of this.

"Plus, you know, I do actually feel like crap now and could use some of your kitchen magic." Noct's eyes twinkled with mischief.

…Damn. He really did know how to get to him. He knew Ignis would protest less about staying if it was for Noct's sake and not his own. And he knew that cooking did help to ease Ignis' mind.

He was putting all of that knowledge to use and not even attempting to hide it.

Ignis sighed. "Go get out of those wet clothes. I'll see what I can whip up to help that swelling in your throat."

Noct shot his arms up in the air in a silent cheer before climbing off of the sofa. "Wanna boot up the PlayStation while we're at it?"

Ignis rolled his eyes faintly. "Might as well."

It was clear getting back to work and school wasn't happening today. Might as well make the best of this… break.

And a nice cup of tea would not be unwelcome.

He made his way to the kitchen, setting the water to heat.

He snorted softly when Noct came back into the room with a sweatshirt on that had one of those terrifying wendigo daemon's faces plastered on it. Ignis had a matching one of those since Gladio had gotten them both one. He doubted Gladio had thought either of them would actually wear them, but if any day was appropriate… Ignis almost wished he had his own on him–

Noct tossed a shirt at him that was covered with anime characters. "No suits on sick days." He stepped on and over the couch again on his way to the PlayStation.

Ignis shook his head fondly. How Noct was capable of being the most mature and intuitive person he knew while simultaneously acting like a careless child, he would never know.

But he was all right with that.

Despite Noct's objections about Ignis being ready to give his life for him at any given point, Ignis never had and never would regret his actions in that regard. Living like this was… difficult. But the alternative was unfathomable.

_Some friendships were worth any sacrifice,_ Ignis thought as he began to pour his tea and Noct started holding up games for him to choose between.

—


End file.
